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The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body comprising 240 airlines worldwide, today finally acknowledged the need for a global market–based measure to reduce aviation's contribution to climate change. IATA called on their airline members to encourage their governments to agree at this year’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly on a global carbon offsetting measure to take effect in 2020.

A coalition of 11 environmental, development and science groups wrote to Tony Tyler, the head of international aviation trade body, IATA, calling for a global sectoral approach that covers the environmental cost of airlines' emissions. The letter was sent days before 240 airlines gathered in Cape Town, South Africa at IATA's Annual General Meeting to discuss the industry issues including the sector's contribution to climate change. The full letter is reproduced in the downloadable link below.

The EU’s decision to ‘stop the clock’ on including emissions from intercontinental flights in its Emissions Trading Scheme appears to have been influenced by Chinese threats to cancel orders for new planes from Airbus. A letter from the president of the French aircraft maker to China’s leading aviation official – seen by Reuters – says Airbus played an influential role in persuading the EU to give the world’s governments another year to reach agreement on how to tackle carbon emissions from air transport. T&E says European governments have effectively given China ‘a veto over European policy’.

International aviation is on course for a rough landing in our warming world. Air travel is growing rapidly -- and so are aviation emissions, which are already responsible for 5 percent of the warming effect of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Following the European Parliament’s vote approving the Commission’s proposal to “Stop the Clock”, Conservative MEP Peter Liese, aviation EU ETS and “Stop the Clock” Rapporteur, hosted a public briefing for MEPs in Brussels on Wednesday 24th April to review progress of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) High Level Group on Climate Change (HGCC) formation, of which had prompted Europe’s stop the clock decision. The conference was attended by Jos Delbeke, Director–General DG Clima, Prof David Lee of Manchester University, IATA’s Paul Steele and Green MEP Satu Hassi. The derogation became European law on 25 April. Here’s our report of what was said there.

The EU has finalised the text of its ‘stop the clock’ concession on the inclusion of emissions from intercontinental flights in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, although the chances of the gesture being wasted by members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) look greater with each day that goes by.

The world’s first study into the impact of climate change on turbulence says flights will become less smooth, which may in turn lead to increased fuel consumption and more climate-changing emissions. The study says the increase in greenhouse gases will create changes to jet streams that will lead to more ‘clear air turbulence’.

The European Parliament today voted to confirm the Commission’s proposal to suspend for one year the inclusion of flights to and from Europe in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Parliament’s decision stressed that the EU’s emissions clock will start again if the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) does not manage to agree on a global deal to curb international aviation emissions at its triennial Assembly next September.

The High Level Group (HGCC) established by ICAO last November to resolve political questions preventing agreement on a global Market-Based-Measure met for the third time in March. It was an important meeting as the first two were quite underwhelming and in some aspects went backwards. Time is running out for ICAO to have any chance of reaching substantive agreement at its forthcoming triennial Assembly next September.ICSA – the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation – representing environmental NGOs in the ICAO process, submitted a paper to HGCC3 and made a presentation to the group yesterday setting out the emissions gap between ICAO current plans and what is needed to meet the 2 degrees maximum global warming and urging agreement on a global MBM and an MBM Framework this year. Presentation and position paper attached.

A study by one of the world’s leading climate scientists says only a global market-based measure, such as a tradable price for CO2 emissions, will keep the growth of aviation carbon-neutral. The finding contradicts the line given by opponents of the EU’s plans for aviation emissions trading, and comes at a critical time in international efforts to tackle the climatic impacts of air transport. In a separate development, MEPs and Member States have sent a signal to international negotiators that the EU’s gesture to delay the enforcement of emissions trading is limited to one year, and time is running out.